Southern Avenue

November 3, 2016

Memphis, Tennessee based band Southern Avenue, has a co-sign that most bands dream of. They recently have signed to the legendary music label Stax Records which has been home to Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ Elvis Presley. Their self-titled debut album is set to be released February 17th, 2017 on Concord/Stax Records and the profile of the band is quickly rising. Members include Ori Naftaly, Tierinii Jackson, Tikyra ‘TK’ Jackson, and Daniel McKee. Speaking to Bandwagon Magazine Ori spoke on the process behind the new album, his musical upbringing, and the story behind the formation of SA.

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Top Tunes Thursday: Edge of Daybreak — Eyes of Love

October 22, 2015

In 1979, a group of musicians bound by circumstance gathered in earnest to craft their first album. Calling themselves Edge of Daybreak, the album that was recorded, while finding little commercial success and almost no financial returns for its creators, was (is) absolutely laden with the sounds of the day from which it came. The players behind this record, a record brimming with vitality and an urgency for life, were all inmates serving out sentences at the Powhatan Correctional Center in Richmond Virginia. Reaping the benefits of a liberal prison music program, band mates Jamal Jahal Nubi (drums, vocal) Harry Coleman (adt. vocal) James Carrington (keys), Cornelius Cade (guitar), McEvoy Robinson (bass), and Willie Williams (percussion) crafted Eyes of Love on a budget of $3,000 and a little less than five hours studio time. Now, almost 40 years later, the Numero Group has re-released the record for our listening pleasure. Lucky for us.

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Album Review: Currency of Man — Melody Gardot

July 28, 2015

Philadelphia based singer/songwriter/siren Melody Gardot hasn’t known many times in her life without music. Being raised by two grandparents and a travelling mother, Gardot was rarely in one place for long, so when she began to take piano lessons at the age of nine, the blooming musician finally had something that was hers: music. At 16, she began playing in local bars two nights a week, and in 2003, after being in a near fatal car accident, she coped with excruciating pain by teaching herself to play guitar.

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Fooling Around and Falling in Love With Elvin Bishop

June 10, 2015

Elvin Bishop has had a long and prolific career as a blues guitarist. A teenager in Chicago during the ‘60s, he had the privilege of both witnessing and taking an active role in blues in it’s heyday. Under the tutlage of several blues greats such as Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and John Lee Hooker he honed his skills in the best way possible before launching into an incredible career that included a song that peaked at #3 on the US Billboards in 1975 with the song “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” which featured Mickey Thomas and Donny Baldwin of Jefferson Starship (and for you younger kids was on the Gardians of the Galaxy soundtrack with last summer). Gearing up for the Greeley Blues Jam, we had a chance to sit down with Bishop to talk about the blues and his amazing career.

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